The New York Yankees. Sports franchise supreme, or a plague personified in pinstripes… whatever your views on the Yanks, without a doubt they are shared by millions. So… what’s a sports-thoughts blog without at least SOME discussion on the Yankees?

Me, I fall into a category that takes absolute pleasure from the dire straits they find themselves in at the moment. Ok, ok… so they beat the Sox today, but even so – they are STILL 12.5 games behind at the moment! I revel in the fact that they are, at the beginning of June, pretty much playing for a wild-card slot. And behind.

Yes, they’re injured. But even BEFORE all that happened I (and quite a few others who actually get paid to speculate on sports!) didn’t think they had all that good a roster. And this is a unit that rivals the Lakers for drama! Hell, A-Rod’s “MINE!” knocked Kobe’s flip-flopping off the sports headlines, and it’s only going to get better… The Rocket is due to start this coming week. A 44 year old upon whose shoulders the fate of the Yankee Nation rests upon.

So those hopes will be at least partially realised next week, when versus the White Sox (and c’mon… shouldn’t he be pitching this Sunday?), we will probably witness the return of Roger Clemens. Will he be the saviour that the Big Apple longs for? Needs? I tend to think not. I think he’ll be good, way better than serviceable (and he’d wanna be for the contract he signed), but ultimately I think that very contract, will be a source of frustration for many within the clubhouse.